Thursday after Ash Wednesday

Gospel – Luke 9:22-25

Choose!

Via Dolorosa, Jerusalem

We all have our crosses to bear!  Some are health-related; some deal with family or job issues!  We all carry a number of crosses or burdens daily.  Many of them we never asked for; honestly, many of them we complain about on a daily basis.  Some days our crosses are heavier than others.  Some days we stumble from their weight and feel like giving up.  And some days we feel like we are carrying multiple crosses.  Some days they make us angry, resentful, confused and exhausted. Some days we get impatient or consider just giving up!

What Jesus is reminding us in today’s Gospel is that, if we want to follow Him, if we want to be His disciple, we must take up the cross!  We must CHOOSE to take up the cross daily!  We must be willing to accept the burden as we journey toward eternal life.  Will that be easy?  Of course not!  We will trip and fall some days!  We will sometimes feel overwhelmed by the weight!  We will sometimes feel like giving up.  But remember that on the way to Golgotha, even Jesus was not alone.  Simon of Cyrene helped to carry His cross.  Even Jesus stumbled and fell three times!

And so too we need to remember that we are not alone!  Jesus is there to help us and encourage us.  So over the course of these next six weeks or so, let us take the time to make a deliberate choice.  Take up the cross!  Accept the burden!  Pray for strength and courage when we fall!  And know that Jesus is there to help us back on our feet and to walk beside us always!

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